Almost one in 10 trade unions paid its general secretary of more than £100,000 a year, according to the annual report by the Certification Officer, the union regulatory body.
The top earner again was Gordon Taylor, head of the Professional Footballers’ Association, who was paid £824,730, with £31,000 in benefits. The next best paid was British Dental Association chief executive Peter Ward, with a £119,145 salary and £64,000 in benefits.
A quarter of the 166 unions listed paid between £60,001 and £100,000; 17% paid between £30,001 and £60,000; and 14% paid up to £30,000; while the general secretaries of the remaining 32% did not receive a salary.
Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley, joint general secretaries at the Unite union, both received above-inflation increases, taking their salaries to £97,000 and £93,000 respectively.
A quarter of the 166 unions listed paid between £60,001 and £100,000; 17% paid between £30,001 and £60,000; and 14% paid up to £30,000; while the general secretaries of the remaining 32% did not receive a salary.
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GMB general secretary Paul Kenny’s package totalled £115,000; Unison chief Dave Prentis earned £92,187, plus £35,249 in benefits.
The number of trade union members recorded in 2008-09 was 7,656,156, an increase of 28,463 or 0.37% up on the membership figure for the previous year. Figures also show that the gross income of trade unions was fell to £1.04bn, a decrease of 3.3% on the previous year.
